Ok, 16 hours into this madness and I just can't seem to figure out how to get this fixed.

I followed the documentation on upgrading from 4.1 sp3 to sp4.

Made the BESMgmt configuration database backup using "BlackberryDBBackup.exe" instead of the osql way [since thats what was written in the document on the RIM website].

Did my main BES server (central) and it went like a charm in about an hour.

Couldn't do my east BES server since it was currently undergoing some kind of backup and didn't want to halt it so I planned to get it done tonight instead.

My West server... this is an epic story on its own.

Did the EXACT same thing that was done on my central server, on the part where you get to "Upgrade the database" and you choose YES or NO prompt... as soon as I picked YES, my server CPU would spike to 100% and I couldn't get anything done.

After hours of mind boggling I was finally able to get it to reboot (quite the dilemma when you're about 4,000 KM away from the server to give it a good ol' fashion kicking).

So after several attempts on my own, I called up my carrier who in turn routes me to RIM for support.

We tried uninstalling and re-installing the MSXML. No dice.

We've now tried uninstalling the BES completely and installing it with 4.1.4 full version instead. No difference here... server still locking up on the database upgrade section.

So now I'm going to uninstall BES for the 3rd time tonight and re-install it with 4.1.3 instead since that's what it was working on beautifully before this madness occurred.

Any insight would be super.

P.s. I'm craving a coffee like its nobodies business and I'm stuck here trying to figure this out.

So now I'm going to uninstall BES for the 3rd time tonight and re-install it with 4.1.3 instead since that's what it was working on beautifully before this madness occurred.

BES 4.1.3 installed like a hot knife cutting through butter

Backed up the databases again and went through SP4 update once more (I crossed all my fingers, did a bit of praying... still no coffee though ) and that took some time but it updated successfully.

Applied the MR4 rollup. Went through nicely.

Now it's up and running and I'm overly bitter, but the learning experience that I gained from this ordeal is like none other. I now know a bit more about BES and am starting to respect its randomness as far as how the technical documents can be hidden in ways that need crafty searching skills.

Konsept - Any details you can provide would be extremely helpful. I'm upgrading from v4.1.2 to SP4 and MR4 this Friday night. I have over 8200 users on 6 production BES pointing to one SQL2000 SP4 database. Besmgmt file is close to 6GB.

Can you identify anything you did differently during the 4.1.3-sp4-mr4 install/upgrade process that allowed for the successful install?

What I did differently this time around was I kept Task Manager opened and had "setup.exe" highlighted.

Why this was important to me: The first time around my server "hanged" on the DB upgrade and I couldn't do anything with my server (the cpu usage locked at 100%... damn you SQL *squinty*). I assumed the server was totally unusable and rebooted it. After that, it was constant headaches getting sp4 to update properly.

Once I reverted back to 4.1.3 with the restored BESMgmt database, I tried the update to sp4 again. I kept task manager opened this time and locked on Setup.exe.

Server started to react the exact same way as before (100% cpu usage and couldn't do anything... appeared to be locked up on something)... I then noticed that setup.exe was hovering between 90-99% cpu time. As long as the number kept fluctuating, I knew my server was working overtime lol.

Waited about 20 minutes to let it go through this time. After the db upgrade passed properly, the rest of the update went through in a breeze.

I think you need to update DB once for first install, because sp4 install will update BES DB schema. but once it is done i don't see why you need to update DB again ?

also after upgrading first BES, make sure that you use only that server to launch BES management console, older version will not fit well with newer DB

I agree. You need to bring all servers at the same level at one at the time. If you install SP4 and MR4 on the first BES then you might have problems installing SP4 on next ones...So you would need to bring all of them first to SP4, once done all of them then you install MR4 on first one and then the rest of them.
Never had any issue doing it like this. Also is recommended to stop all BES services on all of them while doing first one. I usually keep them stopped until they are all done and then start services...

I agree. You need to bring all servers at the same level at one at the time. If you install SP4 and MR4 on the first BES then you might have problems installing SP4 on next ones...So you would need to bring all of them first to SP4, once done all of them then you install MR4 on first one and then the rest of them.
Never had any issue doing it like this. Also is recommended to stop all BES services on all of them while doing first one. I usually keep them stopped until they are all done and then start services...

yes you are right i missed that point, I wont start an BES servie on any server untill all of them are upgraded to SP4 MR4